Gilberto, At 08:30 PM 1/17/2005, you wrote: >>Yes, I understand that. But that would only be an issue if the Bahai lamp is >>the only one with light. If light shone through muiltiple lamps, you can pick >>any lamp you want, even if for silly reasons like it was the lamp you grew up >>with, or it was the lamp your in-laws wanted you to use, because they all >>have light.<<
That viewpoint would certainly agree with most approaches to the perennial philosophy I have read. However, it would not, to my understanding, agree with the Baha'i principle of progressive Revelation and the Covenant (the Will of God). `Abdu'l-Baha said that people could benefit, today, from following the teachings of Christ. However, the Will of God, He believed, was for people to accept Baha'u'llah. If one rejects Baha'u'llah as the latest Prophet of God, because of an attachment to the verses revealed by a particular Lamp (a previous Prophet), then, by `Abdu'l-Baha's criterion, one is rejecting the Light (the Will of God) >>That reminds me of the parable of the grapes. They are all talking about the >>same thing, but with different names. The moral is that the names don't >>matter.<< Again, that is one reason why I find such approaches to the philosophia perennis to be so problematic. The names *do* matter if they are pointing to God's Will. With regards, Mark A. Foster � 15 Sites: http://markfoster.net "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger" -- Abbie Hoffman __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
